How to Protect Your Webcam from Hacking

Even if you don’t use your webcam, it’s still a window into your private world that is vulnerable to hackers. Take a few of the following precautions.

Personal webcams can be — and are — hacked. If someone wanted to hack into your computer’s webcam, he or she probably could. That’s why it’s essential to take precautions to protect yourself from being spied on via your webcam. Here are four precautions you can — and should — take to make sure your webcam isn’t hacked.

Turn your webcam off or cover it up.Hackers can’t gain access to your webcam if it isn’t on. So, if you’re not using it, turn off the portable webcam you might have for your desktop PC. If you’re using a laptop, close the webcam’s sliding cover, or if you don’t have one of those, cover the webcam with a piece of electrical tape or a Post-It note.

Change your password.A webcam that connects to a Wi-Fi network will have a settings page that requires you to set a username and password. If you haven’t changed your password from the default that came with the network, then you’re making your webcam vulnerable to hacking. Sophisticated hackers will certainly know the passwords associated with popular webcam brands.

Keep an eye out for the indicator light.Most built-in webcams have a light next to them when they’re in use. If your light is lit when you’re not using it, don’t just assume that there’s a glitch with your computer. Instead, you should assume that your computer might have been breached by hackers, and you should take precautions to remove the malware from your computer immediately.

Enable your firewall.Your PC should be protected by a firewall to stop all kinds of malicious attacks. A firewall is a piece of hardware or software that tracks network traffic to make sure there’s no unauthorized access attempts on your Wi-Fi network. On Windows computers, the firewall is turned on by default. You can check to see yours is enabled by navigating to the control panel and typing in “Firewall.” Once you click on Windows Firewall, you’ll have the option to turn the program on or off.

After you’ve secured your webcam, make sure your PC is equally secure with PSafe Total for Windows. PSafe’s unmatched anti-virus protection ensures that your computer is protected from hackers 24 hours a day, while its optimization settings will help make sure your PC is running as smoothly as the day you bought it.